Academy Awards board rethinks awards system to counter racism slur

Los Angeles: The board members of the Academy Awards are holding a meeting on January 26 to fight perception that the Academy is racist or elitist following allegations by actors and commoners for the lack of diversity in its nominations.

The lack of diversity in nominations for the 88th Academy Award faced a lot of problems by the public, thus the board members of the Oscars are meeting to discuss and come to conclusion over the issue.

Several insiders predict a return to 10 best-picture contenders, following the widely held opinion that 'Straight Outta Compton' (sic) would have made the cut if there were more than this year's eight, reports variety.com.

Another theory is that the preferential voting system for nominations will be overhauled, since a widely admired film could still fail to score a nomination because of a complicated system.

There are members who want to expand the acting categories to more than five nominations.

Performances like actor Will Smith's in 'Concussion' and Idris Elba in 'Beasts of No Nation' failed to gain a nomination and many Academy members on Wednesday agreed that there were far too many worthy contenders for the five slots.

The strongest possibility is a rethink of membership rules.

Each of the Academy's 14 branches has its own requirements for new members, but several Academy members said those rules are too strict and unrealistic in the current atmosphere.

"The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. A review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity..." Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences(AMPAS), said on January 18.